close-up of Jo’s struffoli
December, 2009

As the Christmas season rolls around, one begins to think of what foods signify Christmas and the holidays. Italian regions each have their own particularities and today, we will speak about one dessert which comes from Naples, Struffoli.

Struffoli are fried balls of dough covered in honey and candied fruit. There are a great addition to any holiday meal and are not that difficult to make. The main issue is to get good honey. Together with sfogliatelle, the baba and the pastiera, struffoli are among the most well known and amusing desserts from the Campania region of Italy.

Legend has it that the dessert hails originally from Greece, when Naples was part of the Magna Grecia. Magna Grecia means Greater Greece and refers to the 7th and 8th centuries BC when Greeks populated Southern Italy in search of more land. Many inhabitants of these regions retain cultural traditions and foods that began during that time.

The name struffoli, in fact, comes from the Greek “strongulos” which means “round in shape”. This dish was originally made by nuns from the different religious orders and apparently given out in recognition of good works. Struffoli are considered good omens or harbingers of good things.

Here’s a great recipe for making struffoli from Accademia Barilla.

Pairing a dessert wine from Italy could also be a lovely idea for Christmas. Campania grows a fair amount of Malvasia Bianca but not a lot of it is sold in the United States. You can find Malvasia Bianca from Apulia more easily or try struffoli with a dessert wine from another region, such as Sicily which offers a host of dessert wines made from Malvasia and from the grape Zibibbo, also known as Moscato d’ Alessandria.

As we get closer to Christmas, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about traditions. Partially because I need to decide which tradition I will share as a part of the Sew Liberated Holiday Traditions Exchange and partially because  I’ve just been doing so much thinking lately about the kind of holidays I want our family to have through the years.

I took my kids to my in-laws’ house today for some time to just play with the grandparents and while we were there, I decided to ask them a bit more about the traditions they had with my husband and his brother and with their families to get some ideas. WOW. So many ideas came out of just one question – I was so touch by all of the beautiful traditions. I was especially touched by how clearly they both held the traditions close to their hearts.

Some of the traditions that they shared:

-More thoughts and memories of each of their childhood holidays with seven fish on Christmas Eve.

-The breaking and sharing of the oplatek (a Polish Christmas wafer). Each family member takes a small piece from the oplatek,  then dips it in honey as a symbol of being a part of the Body of Christ, a part of the family as one unit and to begin a new year with sweetness.

-Celebrating the feast of St. Nicholas (the patron saint of children) in early December where children leave out a shoe for St. Nicholas and he leaves small treats, usually including a small candy cane symbolizing a shepherd’s staff, small coins and small toys. This is believed to also be the origin of Christmas stocking being left for Santa Clause. {This year St. Nicholas Day is December 6th}

-Making Struffoli on Christmas Eve Day – fried small bits of dough covered in honey and often sprinkles. They were traditionally made by nuns in Italy to give as thanks for charity throughout the year.

Some traditions that my own family had/has:

-Christmas Mass on Christmas Eve

-An Advent Wreath

-A Christmas Eve meal that consisted entirely of food chosen and requested by the kids. It sounds simple, but we looked forward to that meal all year long. It usually consisted of some sort of combination of chips and dip, mini hot dogs in crescent rolls(pigs in a blanket), shrimp cocktail, doritos, soda and candy.

-Opening one present on Christmas Eve – almost always new pajamas to wear that night.

-At least a couple of us sleeping in the same room(there were 4 of us), so someone would sleep on the floor.

-Leaving out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

Some traditions that we want to begin with our family:

-Leaving “reindeer food” (glitter and oatmeal) leading up to the front door to help the reindeer find our house.

-Leaving the manger of our Nativity Scene empty until Christmas morning

-Having a special pickle ornament

-Learning about and making St. Lucy cakes on December 13

-Candles in our windows(symbolic of the light welcoming Mary and Joseph as well as the Star that led them to Bethlehem)

As I listened to the traditions, it was so interesting to me to see the common threads that flow with the traditions that I associate with my childhood and those that my husband had as a child. I can especially relate because many of these have similar roots because both of our families are Catholic and partially Italian. On his side, there is also Russian and Polish and on my side there is also German and Irish.

I loved that while listening to these stories and thinking about the traditions my family had, it reminded me of where the Christmas spirit and festivity and joyfulness comes from. As I have been contemplating the tradition that I will share for the Holiday Traditions Exchange, I kept thinking there wasn’t much that would be very different for me to share. I’m so thankful that I took the time to be a bit more contemplative about this because it has brought to mind so many things that I haven’t thought of in years and all of them make me smile. I’ve spent so much time lately worrying about how I want to make the holidays meaningful and not about presents for my children and I really just needed to think more about how I can use it as an opportunity for us to learn and build memories together as a family.

What are your family Holiday Traditions? Leave a comment or I’d love for you to share your link to your post about them below! {This list will be closed Sunday, December 6th to avoid spam links.}

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{This post is a part of Steady Mom’s 30-Minute Blog Challenge}

Some good recipes I picked up at home:

Struffoli

Whisk three large eggs, one tablespoon of butter, and one teaspoon sugar until foamy.  Sift together two cups of flour and one-half teaspoon of baking powder and stir together the wet and dry ingredients.  Work this mixture into a soft dough.  Roll hunks of the dough as if you were making snakes, then divide the elongated strips into small segments.  Fry these balls in hot oil until they are crispy and let them dry on a paper towel.

Combine one cup of honey with a half cup of sugar in a saucepan, heating over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.  Coat the fried balls in the honey and stack them in a pyramid.  The last step is to coat the sculpture with rainbow sprinkles.

Ecco un breve episodio natalizio del PizzaCast giusto poco dopo aver festeggiato “il nostro natale” e poco prima della partenza per le abbuffate partenopee…BUONE FESTE e buon ascolto!

2 ½ cups flour
½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

Eccoci qua…sempre il solito problema…cosa cappero scrivere nel post in homepage ad ogni nuovo episodio del PizzaCast? Allora…”E’ finalmente online l’episodio 19 del PizzaCast” (questo ci vuole per forza) “dove abbiamo parlato di….di…..di tante cose e dove abbiamo riso tanto ma tanto ma tanto che forse è pure troppo!” Buon ascolto!!!“

Va bene così? Ah, nella foto siamo noi stralunati dopo ore ed ore di aereo all’arrivo all’areoporto di Cancun…l’abbiamo messa perchè nell’episodio abbiamo accennato al nostro viaggio di nozze ma soprattutto per farvi vedere quanti capelli ha perso Marco negli ultimi tre anni!!!

E anche questo è andato di Natale.. e si, lo so, penserete l’ennesimo post natalizio.. e dai a volte ci vuole un poco di pazienza.. concedete anche a me di dire qualcosa sul Natale.. Anzi no, questo è il mio blog e ci scrivo tutto quello che mi va..(tempo permettendo purtroppo)

Allora dicevo: anche questo è andato..

Tra bimbi ansiosi nell’attesa di un babbo natale ( quest’anno troppo esile, ero io quella vestita di rosso con la voce fintamente profonda).. che hanno una luce negli occhi che vale tutto l’oro del mondo, i bambini che in piedi, impettiti sopra una sedia, fieri del loro valore dicono la poesia nel silenzio degli adulti.. 

Tra regali scartati  c’è sempre qualcuno che ci resti male che non ti è piaciuto, qualcuno che ricicli.. (ma si diciamocela la verità).. Ma anche qualcuno che piacevolmente ti sorprende, e si perchè come banalmente si dice, basta il pensiero, ma certe volte ‘quel pensiero’ ti rende flebilmente felice..

Poi c’è la santa messa che ‘dovrebbe’ essere la cosa piu’ importante di questo ‘Santo giorno’, ma entri in una chiesa gremita di gente super improfumata con le pellicce che sanno ancora di naftalina e capisci che dopotutto natale è anche mettersi il cappotto buono..

A casa ci si azzuffa per l’abbuffata, in una tavola lunga e numerosa come solo in certe parti del mondo accade, tra cannelloni al forno (buonissimi, grazie zia) carne alla brace.. (e si la ‘furnacella’ da queste parti si fa anche al quinto piano) per concludere, diciamo verso le 18, con ’struffoli’, cassatine siciliane, (qualcuno poi me lo spiegherà prima o poi perchè quest’usanza a Natale delle cassatine siciliane)  susamielli e roccoco’ (che ci vuole una dentiera a parte per quanto sono duri, così che dal 1° gennaio il dentista si assicura numerosi appuntamenti)  frutta secca, noci e ananas.. con il giro sacrosanto di ‘nocino’ e ‘limoncello’..

E mentre i pargoli intorno giocano con il nuovo power rangers e con la nuova winks il tavolo si pulisce dalle prelibatezze per dare spazio alla tradizionalissima ‘tumbuliata’ (dove io ho perso, come al solito e con gli euro adesso è proprio una tragedia) condita di urla ad ogni estrazione del numero che ovviamente viene decantato con il suo significato, così da avere per il 4 ‘o puorc’, per il 77 ‘i riavulilli’, per il 16 ‘o culo’, per il 23 ‘o scem’, e così via..

Qualcuno sbraita perchè ‘ancor nun aggie mis nu nummer ‘ncopp a sta cartell’, qualcun’altro prerchè ‘Rosaria ten proprie nu mazz’ (inteso come fortuna), gli anziani che capiscono sempre 77 per 67 o 28 per 48 e alla fine quando urlano ‘tombola’ e la cartella deve essere controllata, ti accorgi che si sono sbagliati e ricominci tutto da capo..

Poi arrivano le innumerevoli ’signore del piano di sotto’ e quelle ‘affianco’ a portare auguri a tutta la allegra comitiva..Cosi’ si sono fatte le 9 e allora tutti a vedere le vicende di ‘Diego e Assunta’ di ‘un posto al sole’ che c’hanno una casa a posillipo da fare invidia al piu’ ricco di Napoli, ma lui fa il vigile urbano (!!!) e sono ‘gente semplice’.. I bambini dormono ora,  in quella serenità che solo a quell’eta si è capaci di avere,  e finalmente ci si saluta per tornare alle proprie case..

Cosi’ mentre vi scrivo,  arriva mia madre (quella santa donna) furtiva da dietro la porta e dice:

‘Tniss famm ‘a mamma.. vuliss na ftticciolla e panetton co’ latt cavur cavur?”

Non conosco un’altro Natale migliore di questo, mi sento fortunata.. la gente qui è sempre ‘verace’ come le vongole..

Natale a Napoli, ovvero soccombere serenamente sotto il peso, ipercalorico, della tradizione.

Dopo aver passato tanto tempo a tagliare ecco a voi in anteprima mondiale tanti gustosi struffoli che aspettano solo di essere fritti, conditi con miele e mangiati! Io e Pisola li ce li papperemo con gioia anche per tutti voi, vi penseremo tanto!

*** Ed eccoli dopo la frittura… ***